Cycling Tips: Climbing Uphill

Uphill With Ease

How to climb like a mountain goat without killing yourself.

alex stieda

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I was a rookie in the 1986 Tour de France, grinding alone up the Tourmalet, the 18-kilometer, 7.5 percent-grade giant of the Pyrenees, when I heard a voice from behind yell, "Stieda! Slow down!" I looked to see 11-year-Tour-veteran Gerrie Knetemann, in a pack, waving me back. I sat up and tucked in.

Climbing is the most misunderstood aspect of road cycling. People equate it with suffering. On TV we see racers grimacing in pain, striving to win a mountaintop stage of the Tour de France. What we don't see are their countless hours of mountain training, or the other 90 percent of the field, just trying to finish the stage within the time cut.

"Ride within yourself," Knetemann (we called him Ke-nate) had told me in his Dutch accent over espresso that morning. "We have four big climbs today," he said. "On the Tourmalet, we lose five minutes to the climbers, and then make up three minutes on the descent because we go faster than they do." He rattled off the next two climbs, predicting our time lost on the way up and gained on the way down. "Then we have 30 minutes on the last climb to make the time limit."

The fact is, most riders, myself included, aren't "born climbers." If you shoot over your VO2 or anaerobic threshold, your breathing rate skyrockets, your legs begin to feel dead, and eventually you'll pop, unable to continue at even a fraction of your pace. But when you ride within your ability, not only will you reach the top faster, but you'll also increase your fitness so you can go harder next time.

How hard should you go? You could calculate your threshold heart rate, but the simple perceived-exertion method is surprisingly accurate: On a scale of 1 (easy) to 10 (max effort), climbing at 8 should feel just under control. Over that, you'll cross your threshold and begin to fall apart. As you climb, also keep these techniques in mind.

Let go

If you perceive that climbing equals pain, you'll tense up. Loosen your grip on the bar and keep an upright posture with your head up to open your chest and throat for better breathing.

Avoid gasping

"Belly breathe" using your diaphragm. Find your rhythm, both by breathing steadily and by maintaining a pedal cadence between 80 and 90 rpm.

Power pedal

On climbs, drop your heel slightly to initiate the pedal stroke; push with your whole foot. Pull up on your heel at the bottom of the stroke, much like a running motion. When I topped the last climb, I still had the energy to smile. I had ridden within myself and made the cut. Tomorrow, we'd race again, with three more stages before we reached the Alps.

Dress for Descents

Climbing heats you up, but on big climbs, going down the other side is often chilly. For days in the mountains, use a short-sleeve jersey with a long zipper, so you can easily regulate your core temperature, and stash a jacket or vest and arm warmers in your jersey pockets. Before the climb starts, unzip to stay cool. When you get to the top, put everything on and zip up tight for the way down. Also, an old-school cloth cycling cap under your helmet can be just enough to keep the chill off your head.

Alex Stieda, the first North American to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, with 7-Eleven in 1986, leads tours and skills camps (stiedacycling.com).